Centertown Resto Bar

The only place in town where you can get real Halifax donair. The outside of the building is kind of worn, and the inside isn’t anything to write home about, but sometimes those are the best!

Former Haligonian currently living in Nashville, was in Ottawa for a week and looked this place up because I needed a Donair. They did not disappoint. The bartender was very friendly, knew the best Donair joint in Halifax (Tony’s), and it was pleasantly quiet in there.
The donairs here are easily the best I’ve had outside Halifax. They do the meat extra crispy (major bonus points) and the sauce is exactly as it should be. The garlic fingers were a bit underdone, but I’ve read other good reviews so I’m gonna assume this was a one time mess up.
If you’re from Hali and need a Donair fix in Ottawa, this is it. I just hope it’s not overrun with hipsters the next time I come.

Despite some negative comments from other forums I’ve seen about this place, I was pleasantly surprised. Being a Nova Scotian, I can definitely appreciate a good back-​home donair and this place has it. Great, friendly service too.

I’ve passed this restaurant for the past 4 years and always wondered what a Halifax donair was. Well, now I know. It’s a delicious beef/​tomato/​onion tasty treat. I ordered extra sauce based on the reviews and next time (oh yes, there will be a next time) I would get extra onion and tomato too :)

Let me start by saying I’ve never had Halifax Donair until going here, and if Halifax Donair is defined by that sticky-​sweet garlic icing sauce, I will never again.
Anyway, we checked out this place for dinner one night and found the place to be completely empty (bad sign!), but went in anyway. We ordered from the guy and sat to wait for our food. One of the reasons for the low review was that the microwave was being used for our food — not sure how much, but just hearing that alone made me really wish I had checked out another place, but what should we expect being the only ones in the restaurant; can’t imagine they have super high turn over.
The food comes out and I just don’t understand the garlic sauce. It’s really, really bad. Must be an acquired taste, and I apologize to anyone from Halifax that I’m no doubt offending by saying that, but I want to believe that a lot of it was because this place just wasn’t great, but I don’t know. Otherwise, the meat seemed fine enough in the donair.
Another part that I didn’t get was we order garlic cheese bread, and that was great, but it had fake bacon bit type things on it. Not delicious. Not sure if that’s a standard thing or not, but come on — spring for some real bacon or just leave it off.
Would rather check out some other donair places in the area.

I am not going to claim to be knowledgeable about what constitutes a true Halifax donair, but I can claim to be knowledgeable about things that are tasty, and the donairs here are damn tasty.
When it comes to meat in wrap form, Ottawa is well covered. We have plenty of options if you want a Shawarma or Gyro, and all have their merits but these Donairs are a bit different and very very tasty. The meat is plentiful and quite spicy while the sauce is runny and garlicky. I went with a few friends and ate in, the service was very good. It isn’t pretty on the outside (or the inside for that matter) but they make a very good Donair.

Alright let’s just get to the bottom of this «Halifax Donair» issue. To those who claim that these are not «true» Halifax Donairs, all I can say is stop splitting hairs. Outside of Halifax, this is as good as it gets and these are damn good.
Lots of meet, a delicious home made sauce at a good price. They do their donairs well and they take pride in it. I would ask for extra sauce if you like a drippy donair.
The pizza, garlic fingers and other food is top-​notch too. Remember, this is just plain good food. not fancy, but delicious. Go into the place, and there is a small bar. I’ve had a beer there once and it’s the kind of place you escape to when you don’t want to run into too many people. They are friendly there, the food is good and it is anything but trendy.

As a native Nova Scotian, I consider myself an expert on the topic of donairs! And I think Centertown comes close to what you’d get at home, pretty darn close. I ordered garlic fingers and a large donair last night with extra sauce. They absolutely do not put enough sauce on unless you ask for it and even then it’s 75 cents more. The meat is slightly spicier than what you’d get back home at Acropole or KOD if you’re in Halifax. The pita has gotten better, when I first ate here it was too crispy but they seem to have mastered it. However the meat on the donair is sliced a bit too thickly for my liking, my favorite donair place in New Glasgow called The Acropole, sliced their meat so so thin and I think the thinness of the meat enhances the flavor, and it also came with really tiny pieces of tomato and onion, I think this allows the sauce to get all over every inch of the donair. Which brings me onto the next difference between here and NS Donairs, they don’t have enough meat, the large I got last night is maybe the size of a small back home, if they upped the meat maybe a medium.
The garlic fingers were spot on, although they’re a bit hard to f – k up, for anyone from Ottawa who doesn’t know what these are, think of a pizza, without sauce, just garlic butter and cheese and bacon, then they cut it up into small «finger like» pieces and serve them with donair sauce and they are a Maritime delicacy! :) The delivery driver was more than pleasant and for a small garlic fingers and a large donair I paid $ 21, which is about what you’d pay in New Glasgow. This place brings me a taste of home which I appreciate so much when I’m missing my little redneck small town.

Best Halifax donair in town. If I lived closer this would definitely be my hang out.